Markides Brittany Reese, Hesketh Kylie D, Maddison Ralph, Laws Rachel, Denney-Wilson Elizabeth, Campbell Karen J
Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2023 Jul 22;9(1):128. doi: 10.1186/s40814-023-01278-2.
Fussy eating is most often a developmentally typical behaviour, generally presenting during toddlerhood. However, up to half of parents of young children are concerned about fussy eating, and this concern may mediate the use of nonresponsive feeding practises, such as coercive or unstructured feeding and using food to reward eating. Despite the high prevalence of parental concern for fussy eating and the negative impacts nonresponsive feeding practises have on children's health and diets, no previous digital intervention to improve the feeding practises of parents of toddlers concerned about fussy eating has been evaluated.
This article describes the protocol of a randomised controlled feasibility pilot aiming to evaluate Fussy Eating Rescue, a purely web app based intervention for parents of toddlers. The primary aim is to investigate feasibility and acceptability; secondary aims are to explore indications of intervention effect on parents' feeding practises or children's eating behaviours.
Fussy Eating Rescue features include: (1) a Tracker, that allows parents to track repeated offers of food, (2) Topics, providing information on fussy eating, effective feeding strategies, and general nutrition, (3) Rescues, containing quick references to material supporting Topics contents, (4) Recipes, and (5) SMS notifications. Parents of toddlers (12-36 months old, n = 50) who have concerns about fussy eating will be recruited via Facebook. Parents will be randomised to an intervention group, which receives access to the app for 6 weeks, or to wait-listed control. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline and 6 weeks after app use, using online questionnaires and app usage statistics. Primary outcomes include participant retention rate, intervention engagement, app usability, perceived ease in using the app, perceived usefulness of the app, and user satisfaction. Secondary outcome measures include parents' feeding practises and children's eating behaviours.
Results will inform whether Fussy Eating Rescue is a feasible way to engage parents concerned for their toddler's fussy eating behaviours. If feasible and acceptable to users, a larger trial will further examine the efficacy of the Fussy Eating app in improving parents' feeding practises and children's eating behaviours.
Prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry on 15 July, 2021 (ACTRN12621000925842).
挑食通常是一种发育阶段的典型行为，一般出现在幼儿期。然而，多达一半的幼儿家长担心孩子挑食，这种担忧可能会导致采用不恰当的喂养方式，如强制或无规律喂养以及用食物作为进食奖励。尽管家长对孩子挑食的担忧很普遍，且不恰当的喂养方式对孩子的健康和饮食有负面影响，但此前尚未对旨在改善担心孩子挑食的幼儿家长喂养方式的数字干预措施进行评估。
本文描述了一项随机对照可行性试点研究的方案，旨在评估“挑食救援”，这是一款专为幼儿家长设计的纯网络应用程序干预措施。主要目的是调查其可行性和可接受性；次要目的是探索干预对家长喂养方式或孩子进食行为影响的迹象。
“挑食救援”的功能包括：（1）一个追踪器，允许家长追踪重复提供食物的情况；（2）主题，提供有关挑食、有效喂养策略和一般营养的信息；（3）救援内容，包含对支持主题内容的材料的快速参考；（4）食谱；（5）短信通知。通过脸书招募担心孩子挑食的幼儿家长（12至36个月大，n = 50）。家长将被随机分为干预组，可使用该应用程序6周，或进入等待名单对照组。使用在线问卷和应用程序使用统计数据在基线和使用应用程序6周后评估结果。主要结果包括参与者保留率、干预参与度、应用程序可用性、使用应用程序的感知易用性、应用程序的感知有用性和用户满意度。次要结果指标包括家长的喂养方式和孩子的进食行为。
结果将表明“挑食救援”是否是让担心孩子挑食行为的家长参与进来的可行方式。如果对用户可行且可接受，更大规模的试验将进一步检验“挑食救援”应用程序在改善家长喂养方式和孩子进食行为方面的效果。
于2021年7月15日在澳大利亚新西兰临床试验注册中心进行前瞻性注册（ACTRN12621000925842）。
